Prayer Meeting 18/10/2022

The Tender High Priest - Part 2

Hebrews 4:14-16

Let me start as always by sharing a prayer, again we mostly share from the ‘Valley Of Vison’ book, and choose prayers that are in line with the topic. Tonight’s is called ‘Christian Love’. It’s on page 250 of the leatherbound version and page 137 of the paperback edition.

O lover of the loveless, It is thy will that I should love thee with heart, soul, mind, strength, and I my neighbour as myself. But I am not sufficient for these things. There is by nature no pure love in my soul; Every affection in me is turned from thee; I am bound, as slave to lust, I cannot love thee, lovely as thou art, until thou dost set me free. By grace I am thy freeman and would serve thee, for I believe thou art my God in Jesus, and that through him I am redeemed, and my sins are forgiven. With this freedom I would always obey thee, but I cannot walk in liberty, any more than I could first attain it, of myself. May thy Spirit draw me nearer to thee and thy ways. Thou art the end of all means, for if they lead me not to thee, I go away empty. Order all my ways by thy holy Word and make thy commandments the joy of my heart, that by them I may have happy converse with thee. May I grow in thy love and manifest it to mankind. Spirit of love, make me like the loving Jesus; give me his benevolent temper, his beneficent actions, that I may shine before men to thy glory. The more thou doest in love in me and by me, humble me the more; keep me meek, lowly, and always ready to give thee honour. 

Again tonight, some of what I share will be drawing from Charles Spurgeon’s sermon entitled ‘We Have A Tender High Priest’, taken for Spurgeon’s book called ‘Sermons On Christs Names And Titles’.

Hebrews 4:14-16 (NKJV)

¹⁴ Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. ¹⁵ For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶ Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 4:14-16 (KJV)

¹⁴ Seeing then that we have a great High Priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. ¹⁵ For we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶ Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Christ doesn’t just communicate, as Spurgeon says, for men, ‘He was to communicate with God from men’.

Here are a few thoughts from my notes I shared at our last prayer meeting. Incidentally, we all have access to these notes, how many of you have read them and applied them since the last prayer meeting? Quote from our last prayer meeting:

Since Jesus is our perfect model. How many of us can say we fall way short of taking others’ burdens and weaknesses and having a tender and compassionate heart, that is both patient and understanding with that poor soul? How many of us, can continually have that right heart and put things, and hear things from a Christlike perspective? Surely to have such a High Priest is not just one we look to and be grateful for, but one whom we do all to act like and imitate in our own priestly, caring and holy office, towards our brothers and sisters, and all of humanity.

For me I must work on myself and capture thoughts, in order to pray and think of others with a tender heart. For some of us it’s vital, for me as a pastor and often counsellor, I must make sure my feelings and emotions are not negatively affected, lest I give poor counsel, and unhelpful, ungodly, unloving support, but that’s not just for pastors but for all.

How many times have we either gave advice, or even carried stuff towards people that is not tender hearted? To not be tender hearted is to not imitate Christ. Spurgeon writes on how Jesus is touched and feels what we feel:

Some people are touched by the woe of poverty , but they are not touched by the fellow feeling of it.

How many have such a lack of compassion for their fellows, yet those same people are often the ones that feel most hard done to? If people were to treat you and think towards you the way you at times think towards and treat others, how Christian would you think they are? Our High Priest Spurgeon says ‘moves in harmony with our pangs’. Jesus is not just one who knows our struggles, He is one who is moved deeply by them. This is why we ought to pray pressing prayers. This is why we must approach prayer with boldness.

Spurgeon again says:

It’s one thing to see pain, but another thing to be touched with the feeling of it.

Oh how unfruitful is it to be aware of a brother or sister’s pain and struggle, yet not be moved by it? To not feel it? How sad is it really, so many so-called professing Christians are so unmoved by others’ pain and struggles. Or I could add, they even refuse to celebrate others’ win.

To not act is to not act like Christ. Jesus was not just aware of people’s pain and struggles. He was moved by them. Some believers are so unmoved by others’ struggles, in fact some so-called believers even gloat. How utterly sad and unfruitful is that? But many may not go that far, yet they still are unmoved by it. Jesus was moved with compassion:

Matthew 9:36

³⁶ But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.

Notice that Jesus doesn’t just know what’s missing, and know they are lost. He does something; He moves. In fact, He says in the very next verse that it’s those in that lostness that we bring the gospel to.

Matthew 9:37-38

³⁷ Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. ³⁸ Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

Jesus saw and felt their hopelessness, and then saw it as the mission to reach them. Do we?

Or do we only see them as lost and a burden? Are we too consumed with judging and being negatively affected by their actions, that we are not moved with compassion? Jesus even tells the disciples pray that the Lord will send labourers. Interesting don’t you think? He tells the disciples to pray for more people to be saved, and that salvation leads to more labourers moved with compassion, to bring the gospel to people, that will win souls and create more labourers.

Interesting, that at the time, the disciples were hardly moved themselves. How often do we pray for God to save people, while we are not moved by compassion ourselves? I think this is part of Jesus’ point in teaching them this: ‘how about it starting with you?’. Moved with compassion is the beginning of evangelism, and the lack of it is its greatest hindrance.

I love what JC Ryle writes in his commentary:

Now what are our feelings when we see such a sight? This is the question that should arise in our minds. There are many such to be seen on every side. There are millions of idolaters, and heathen on earth, millions of deluded Mahometans, millions of superstitious Roman Catholics, there are thousands of ignorant unconverted protestants near our own doors. Do we feel tenderly concerned about their souls? Do we deeply pity their spiritual destitution? Do we long to see that destitution relieved? These are serious enquires that ought to be answered.

He concludes:

The man who does not feel for the souls of the unconverted person can surely not have the mind of Christ.

It’s easy to look like, think like, and act like a Christian to those who are acting like Christians. However, what about them that are not? Spurgeon says of the tender-hearted High Priest:

Is it not well that it does not say, touched with the feeling of our patience? Our self-denial, our valour? But with the feeling of our infirmities, that is our weakness, our littleness, the points in which we are not strong nor happy. Our pain, our depression, our trembling, our sensitiveness; he is touched with these, though he falls not into the sin which too often comes of them.

As I read that, I thought: isn’t it the case at times, that when others are at their ugliest we too become ugly? That when others sin, and are far from godly, we allow their ungodly, hopeless condition to make us sin. How un-Christlike are we when others’ ungodliness turns us into sinning? It’s easy to be holy and unaffected by those who are patient and those who are not full of selfishness. But can you still act with compassion to those who are sheep without a shepherd when their selfishness kicks in?

Now that does not mean we accept it, or celebrate it, or never correct it. Some sin by embracing not just the sinner but the sin itself. This is what the scripture is saying:

Jesus felt it, was moved by it, but never embraced the sin. Some of us are so passive and flowery, that we end up embracing the sin itself. And instead of compassion, we compromise.

Jesus was as tempted as we are as humans, yet He never sinned. He never allowed others’ sins to make Him sin. He could totally saturate Himself with compassion on all our sins and weaknesses, but never did it affect Him in any other way than as a loving, caring compassionate High Priest.

Let me take this to another level. He even was a tender High Priest towards those who treated Him like a sinner while they acted righteous and abused Him. He prayed for them: ‘forgive them father for they know not what they do’ (Luke 23:34). He was tempted to act ungodly almost every moment, yet He never did. Spurgeon says (paraphrase): ‘Jesus’ very nature is tender’, yet so many of His so called followers are not.

How many are so unforgiving, bitter, angry, lack sympathy, are too affected and too little affected? If people had to ask you, and every church brother and sister could stand in a row, and one by one tell you the truth, how many would say, ‘I don’t see much compassion in you. You lack tender compassion’. Would you be one who would be confident that they would say you are? Would you be confident yourself? Do you exhibit care, do you exhibit generosity towards people? Some don’t even exhibit generosity to their fellow brothers and sisters, never mind the world. One of the reasons that is the case is as Spurgeon points out, that:

Too many people are so wrapped up in their own grief, that they have no room in their souls for sympathy.

He then says: ‘don’t you know them?’

Let me close with this. Spurgeon says:

They monopolise all the sympathy which the market can supply and then there will be none to spare for the afflicted. If you are greatly taken up with self, there is not enough of you to run over to anybody else. How different is this from our Lord, who never cried, ‘have pity on me! Have pity on me oh my friends’.

Wow, what a tender High Priest, He was willing to die for us, but never did He live to save Himself.

Amen.